Blink
by ilovetvalot
Summary: In the blink of an eye, everything can change. TWOSHOT
1. Chapter 1

**Blink**

**Chapter One**

"Agent Down!"

The deep battle cry of a fallen comrade...were there any worse words an agent could hear spoken?

She'd heard the words intoned over the years with varying degrees of emotion. A panicked cry transmitted over a radio wire...hysterically yelled in the heat of a shootout by a partner so close that you could call them "brother"...solemnly spoken when there was no hope. Hell, she'd even been forced to pronounce them herself a couple of times during the course of her career.

At the time, she'd thought there could be nothing worse than making that call to arms.

She was wrong.

As it turned out, actually being the agent down was not exactly a walk in the park, either.

It happened in a blink. In the moment it took to inhale a breath...to turn her head. Quickly, with only the barest whisper of sound.

One moment, she'd been preparing to address her units and make them aware of her impending Bureau retirement in the banquet hall of the Radisson, impatiently waiting for the dull roar of irritated voices to dissipate...wondering if she should serve red or white wine with the grilled trout for dinner...whether the dry cleaner had been able to get the catsup stain out of her favorite turquoise blouse...the next, she'd heard a familiar deep voice yell, "Gun!" and felt the impact of David Rossi's heavier body slam into her, made even heavier by Aaron Hotchner's body falling into him.

Dimly, she wondered if being hit by a ton of bricks might have been less painful, but she quickly realized that it wasn't the weight shielding her causing that searing ache in her chest so much as the interloping bullet now lodged in her body.

"Erin! Open your damn eyes!" she heard him bark as his hands tamped down tightly on her chest. "Erin!"

Open her eyes? Well, she supposed that could explain the darkness surrounding her. Forcing her eyelids to flutter open took almost more will than she had, but something in the urgency of his tone made her obey his command. Not something she would ever normally do...not with him.

She'd hate for him to think she actually listened to him.

"C'mon, Erin," Dave growled, glancing down at his hands as her blood pulsed around them. "Fight!" he commanded her desperately, the flow of her blood running past his splayed fingers, the red color contrasting obscenely with the crisp white color of her blouse.

"When have we ever done anything else?" she managed to wheeze past the pain, her mouth tasting copper. God, this was bad, she thought wildly, her brain registering just enough to know the score. Didn't that mean the bullet had pierced a lung? Peering up at him, what she saw in his normally hooded gaze worried her more, however. "How bad?" she gasped, the burning pain worsening exponentially as his strong hands pressed harder against the wound.

"You'll be fine," he automatically replied, glancing back down at the bullet hole marring her skin. "Medics?" he growled at Hotch over his shoulder.

"En route, Dave," Hotch replied, pressing the phone against his ear. "You got this?" he asked, looking over Dave's shoulder at the felled Section Chief.

"Go," Dave ordered. "Get this place locked down!" Turning back to Strauss, he frowned down at her. "Who've you pissed off now, Erin? Narrow down my suspect list for me."

"Are you actually trying to pick a fight with me? Now?" she asked weakly, his face wavering in front of her eyes.

Watching her pupils contract, Dave's heart beat faster. "You can't blame me for asking. There're a lot of people that have wanted you dead over the years."

"Like you," she breathed, coughing a little, that simple action sending a new wave of pain through her body.

Eyes darkening, Dave's gaze softened. "Not always. There was a time when you weren't a bitch," he reminded her, as memories of them laughing...loving...flashed through his mind. It hadn't always been bad. When it had been good, it had been heaven.

"And you weren't such an ass either," she returned, the effort of talking costing her, her breaths coming tightly. "I'm cold, David," she whispered as fear began to weave into her thready voice.

"It's the blood loss, Bella," Dave replied gently, easily reverting to the endearment he'd used for her when times had been good, "That's all it is," he soothed, silently willing the blood flow to ebb, mutely making deals with his God to spare her. "You just focus on me."

And dazed by the pain, Erin felt herself begin to drift away.

_**/*/**_

_"Come on, Blondie," David Rossi smirked, weaving around her body in the gymnasium that served as their sparring field. "Focus!" he sneered, dodging her small fist as she attempted to land another blow. "It's called hand to hand combat, Bella!"_

_Narrowing her eyes on his smug, arrogant face, Erin turned her body suddenly, trying capture him off guard. All she needed was one moment...one moment to plant her fist dead center in the middle of that cocky mouth of his._

_"Focus, Erin!" Dave goaded her again. "This is the last requirement...you'd hate to have to carry that prim little ass of yours back to Podunk, wouldn't you?"_

_Oh, what the hell had possessed her to partner with this infuriating man for drills, she asked herself as they circled each other again. Why was he even in this class? As a prior Marine, couldn't he have opted out? Better yet, why had she ever allowed herself to fall in love with such a smug bastard?_

_"Oh, well," he grinned, shrugging in front of her as he stood nonchalantly, "I hear they're always hiring secretaries at the Bureau. Maybe you could..."_

_Finding her opportunity, her fist shot out with the force of a bullet, drilling his nose as her foot swept his feet out from under him. Pinning him effortlessly, she grinned down at him a second later._

_Returning her smile, Dave chuckled. "You know, if you wanted me flat on my back, all you had to do was ask nicely."_

_"I'll leave that to the coeds on the sidelines," Erin shot back, balancing her weight on her heels as she pressed her hand into his chest. "I hear you have quite the following to choose from."_

"_Is it my fault that they find me irresistible?"_

_Rolling her eyes, Erin pressed her weight hard into his muscled chest as she leaned forward. "That's just because they don't know you like I do, Dave. I've developed immunity to your bullshit now."_

_And in the blink of an eye, she suddenly felt herself flipping, shock rolling through her as she landed on her back on the mat. Wincing as her shoulders flexed, she stared up into his dark eyes as he landed on top of her._

"_Immunity doesn't mean you're still not vulnerable, now does it?" he asked almost conversationally as he arched one brow, reaching out to pat her cheek in triumph. "Some things are never going to change."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Blink**

**Chapter Two**

_**/*/**_

Slapping her cheek for the third time, Dave demanded sternly, "Open your eyes, Erin. That's an order! Don't you dare take the easy way out!"

Blinking rapidly as she heard his agitated voice bullying her once more, Erin gasped. "D-david?" she asked, reaching up a hand to try to pull at the mask covering her mouth. Looking around frantically at the unfamiliar faces surrounding her, she began to panic, struggling against the tubes binding her. Where was he, she thought hysterically, unable to find him. Better yet, where was she?

"Ma'am, just lie still," a paramedic urged when her hand would have lifted again, shooting a concerned look at the machine monitoring her vital signs.

"D-David?" Erin asked hoarsely again through her pain, her voice muffled by the damned piece of plastic over her face.

Capturing a flailing hand in his, Dave leaned forward from his position perched on a seat behind the gurney. "I'm here, Bella," he murmured reassuringly. "Hang in there for me," he urged.

Blinking as she stared with wide eyes up into his gaze, Erin wondered at his tone. His statement had been as close to a plea as she'd ever heard him make. And, David Rossi did not beg. Anyone. Ever.

Well, except for that one time...

**/***/**

_"Bella," he gasped, his neck arching against the pillow as her head lowered again. "If I ever get out of these," he threatened, rattling the handcuffs securing both his hands to the iron railing of the bed._

_"You'll what?" she smirked, lifting her head to smile at him, scraping one nail down the mat of hair covering his surprisingly hard chest._

_"Let me go and I'll show you," Dave challenged, his eyes glittering with arousal and need._

_"I don't think so," Erin denied with a laugh, dipping her head to press a lingering kiss against his flat stomach. "I like my odds this way," she giggled against his skin, peppering kisses across his abdomen._

_"Bella, please..."_

**/***/**

"Bella, please," Dave whispered frantically, his fingers stroking her forehead as her eyes fluttered again. "How the hell far are we from GW?" he barked at one of the paramedics working furiously over her lower body.

"Three minutes out," the harried man replied. "Her heart rates dropping," he warned his partner.

Dropping his eyes back to Erin's face as she moaned faintly, he swallowed painfully. "C'mon, Erin...you don't quit, babe. You've never been a quitter!"

Hearing the desperation etching her former lover's voice, Erin wanted to laugh for a moment at the irony of those words.

***/***

"_It's just not worth it anymore."_

"_Gee, Erin, I never took you for a quitter." Sarcasm flooded his words as his eyes focused on the suitcase propped next to the door. "Gonna walk out on everything if the going gets too tough?"_

"_You're one to talk," she shot back, ignoring the wrenching pain that was tearing at her very soul. You have to do this, she told herself sternly. He's proven to you that he won't change and you deserve better. Straightening her shoulders, she met his venomous gaze with an equally matching one of her own. "I've been the one trying to make this work. You've barely made us a priority for months now."_

_"Me?" Dave spat, eyes narrowing in derision. "Erin, you've volunteered for every case that's come across your desk for months! I'm fairly certain that I'm not the workaholic in this so-called relationship," he sneered, glaring at the stack of case files she held under her arms._

_"Well, I'm sorry I wasn't born with a penis, Dave! Maybe then I could catch up to you at work," she retorted, squaring her shoulders as she shifted her weight from one foot to another._

_"Oh, I don't know about that," Dave snorted, vibrated with anger, "You may not have the dick, but you've sure as hell got some brass balls. Jesus Christ, Erin, you shrivel a guys cojones just by looking at them!"_

_"That's right, put my success down to being a man-hating bitch," she replied angrily, rolling her eyes. "I worked hard to get where I am!"_

_"Yeah? Maybe that's true, Erin," Dave said in disgust, stomping across the room. "The sad thing is that when you finally reach your coveted destination, you're gonna be all alone."_

_"You're not blameless here, David," Erin replied defensively, aiming for whatever target she could find. "I've spent just as many nights alone while you were away on cases. And I did it without whining."_

_"Just go, Erin," Dave spat, waving a hand at the front door, his ire overriding his good sense. "You don't wanna be here. That's obvious. So, go," he demanded, stomping past her to jerk open the oak door._

_Turning, she stared back at him, her eyes clouded with unshed tears as she reached for her suitcase with a trembling hand. _

_Ask me to stay, her mind begged him as she walked toward him. Ask me to stay, she pleaded as she stepped outside into the chilly night. Ask me to stay, her mind screamed as he slammed the door behind her._

"Ask me to stay," she mumbled as she slowly opened her eyes, unable to focus now on anything around her.

"What?" Dave questioned, his dark beseeching eyes lovingly caressing her wan face. "What did you say, Bella?" he whispered, straining to hear her through the oxygen mask strapped across her face. Bending, he ordered, "Say it again, babe."

"Ask me to stay," Erin's almost incoherent voice begged. "Please," she implored him desperately, still trapped in the thin veil shrouding the past from the present. "All you would have had to do is asked me to stay," she said faintly.

Recognition flickered inside Dave as his mind carried him backward through time, their final argument echoing in his ears. Wrapping his hand solidly around hers, he willed his strength into her. "I'm asking now. You hear me, Erin," he declared violently as his heart cracked, "Stay with me! You stay right here with me, Bella!"

"She's coding!" he distantly heard one of the paramedics yell as the ambulance turned sharply.

The world seemed to shift into slow motion as the two men worked over her. Blindly, he followed her gurney as they rushed her from the ambulance into the ER, his eyes never leaving her still, pale face.

It was over in the blink of an eye...in the time it took a heart to skip a beat...or to begin beating again...

She was back. The insistent beep of her monitors informed him that she lived. Watching her through the maze of doctors and nurses now surrounding her, he saw her eyes open, her gaze finding his.

"We need to redline her to the OR," he heard one of the doctors announce as they began moving her gurney quickly toward the door.

"Wait," Erin's weak voice pled, her hand lifting as they wheeled her toward the door...toward him. "David..."

"I'm here, Bella," Dave said quickly, capturing her hand as he fell into step with the rest of the team trying to save her life.

"I stayed, David," she gasped, blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth. "I stayed for you."

"You keep staying, Bella," Dave choked, uncharacteristic tears springing to his eyes. "Do it for me," he ordered quickly as they approached the double doors leading to surgery. "This isn't how our story ends, you hear me."

Nodding once before her eyes fluttered closed, she whispered, "Bossy bastard."

Forced to release her hand as they moved through the door, Dave sagged against the wall and laughed weakly.

His girl just might be all right after all.

She had to be.

They had an ending they needed to rewrite.

_**Finis**_


End file.
